


Stars

by blueecofreak



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Family Bonding, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mabel & Stan, Post Episode: s02e12 A Tale of Two Stans, actually protect everyone in Gravity Falls from Alex Hirsch 2k15, protect Grunkle Stan too, protect Mabel Pines at all costs, rated for Grunkle tears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-20
Updated: 2015-07-20
Packaged: 2018-04-10 06:22:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4380602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueecofreak/pseuds/blueecofreak
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She knew she and her brother had a sort of unspoken agreement, that it would always be their job to protect the other from anything that would try to hurt them. Boyfriends, bullies, monsters, or demons. It didn’t matter. The Pines Twins would stick together until the very end.</p><p>Mabel wonders why the same didn’t seem to apply to her grunkles.</p><p>// Immediately following the events of Tale of Two Stans. Very Mabel-centric. Hurt/Comfort. //</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stars

**Author's Note:**

> I am incredibly blown away by the recognition I received on my first fic I posted here, so I just want to thank everyone who clicked that 'kudos' button.
> 
> This fic begins directly after A Tale of Two Stans, also titled The One Where Grunkle Stan Cries and Everyone Cries Because Everything is Sad and Damn You Alex Hirsch.

When she’s absolutely sure Dipper has fallen asleep, Mabel slips quietly out of bed. 

She grimaces as her bare feet touch the cold, hardwood floor. She waves hurriedly at the safely returned Waddles, as he grunts in concern from underneath her sheets. It wasn’t that cold ya big lug, honestly, just a bit uncomfortable. 

Grunkle Stan had attempted to fix the damage done to the Shack’s roof the best he could on such short notice, securing a number of mismatched, paint-stained tarps over the gaping holes. Despite her grunkle’s best efforts though, the chilly Oregon air had no trouble finding its way in. 

Rubbing her shoulder absentmindedly as it begins to ache, Mabel glances up, and can see the spots Stan had missed. Scattered stars peeked through the makeshift ceiling. Normally she found comfort in the galaxy looming over her, its flickering lights reminding her of a billion happy, winking eyes, but tonight…it only felt suffocating. It seemed like the stars were instead leering and taunting her. 

Then Dipper begins to stir, and Mabel freezes, body tensed and ready to jump back into bed. But her brother merely rolls over to face the wall, still sound asleep, and she lets out a (silent) sigh of relief. 

She’s not sure how long she’ll be able to keep Dipper from knowing how worried she is about the two Stans, but she knows she has to try.

Her younger twin was incredibly observant when it came to mysteries. He was able to find clues and piece them together before she even knew there was a case to solve. But when it came to figuring out other people’s emotions– or even his own –Dipper was pretty gosh dang inept. 

People and feelings were Mabel’s shtick, and because of this, she’s not surprised her brother can’t see the harsh tension between their grunkles. 

That being said, it wasn’t something she wanted to call his attention to anytime soon. While it could be pretty exhausting, constantly feeling other people’s emotions on top of her own, Mabel knows she can handle it. Her twin on the other hand? There was no doubt in her mind Dipper would crack under the pressure, and for that reason she didn’t want him to even suspect there was trouble brewing between the two Stans. 

She thinks of how her mom had pulled her aside the day before they left for Gravity Falls, her voice low and soft so only Mabel could hear her. She remembers the small, but genuine smile her mom had given her as she told her to make sure Dipper didn’t worry too much this summer. Mabel had nodded vigorously in response. 

She knew she and her brother had a sort of unspoken agreement, that it would always be their job to protect the other from anything that would try to hurt them. Boyfriends, bullies, monsters, or demons. It didn’t matter. The Pines Twins would stick together until the very end.

Mabel wonders why the same didn’t seem to apply to her grunkles.

Unable to keep another sigh restrained, Mabel finally tiptoes across the floor and out the door. 

The stars are even more visible in the hallway between her room and the bathroom, and she scowls. She’s not even sure why she left bed now anyway. Her shoulder is steadily throbbing, and the rest of her body is starting to ache from today’s activities as well.

Honestly, the next time she needs to escape from the back of a government issued vehicle, crashing it into a bunch of trees is definitely not plan A. 

She’s startled out of her thoughts as a crashing thud resounds throughout the hallway. There’s only one room that could have came from, and she rushes towards her grunkle's bedroom.

“Grunkle Stan?” she says timidly, knocking gently his door. “Is everything okay in there? I heard a big noise.”

Angry mumbling is the only answer she gets in return. 

“I’m coming in, so if you have any of those Fully Clothed Women magazines, you better put them away right now mister!”

Mabel hears him protest, but ignores his irate gibberish as she pushes her way into his room. She almost wishes she didn’t.

In the corner of his room, splintered into pieces, lies what used to be his nightstand. Presumably, it had broken after colliding with the old safe. The crooked lamp from his dresser must have joined the fray as well, as it lay shattered by some old, empty Pitt Cola cans. 

Standing where the nightstand used to be is her grunkle, breathing heavily, his back facing her. Looking away from his fists that are practically shaking from how hard he has them clenched, Mabel instead focuses on the symbol burnt into his skin, peeking out from his undershirt. The light spilling in from the open doorway illuminates the mark, and Mabel can’t help but be reminded of the taunting stars.

“Gru-Grunkle Stan? Is everything okay? I heard a loud noise so I came to see what was wrong and you look really, really upset right now.”

Stan sits falls down on his bed as though he can’t stand for another second, and the old mattress creaks under his broad frame. He leans down, face in his hands. 

Mabel tries once more to get a coherent response from her grunkle.

“Grunkle Stan? You can talk to me you know.”

He shakes his head, glancing up to where she’s hesitating in the doorway. “Go back to bed Mabel,” he shouts hoarsely. His voice drops in volume when he sees her jump, though it is no less hoarse. “I have- I have important stuff to do, no kids allowed. And there isn’t anything to talk about.”

Forcing herself to be brave, Mabel takes a deep breath, and tries once again.

“I know things aren’t okay between you and Great Uncle Ford,” she tells him, softly. “Dipper and I heard you guys talking before bed. You don’t have to pretend with me.”

All of her grunkle’s resolve seems to break at that statement, and Mabel moves to sit patiently at his side as he begins to sob in earnest. 

“I’m sorry,” Stan finally manages to choke out, rubbing furiously at his eyes with his fists. The blush across his cheeks is easily visible, even with his thin layer of scruff. “You shouldn’t have had to see that.” 

Mabel scrunches her face, grabs one of her grunkle’s hands in both of hers. He startles at the physical contact, but doesn’t pull away. “Don’t say sorry to me, silly.” She tries to convey as much warmth in her voice as possible. “I’m sorry Great Uncle Ford said those things to you.”

She was sorry. Really, truly, one hundred percent sorry. Not for the first time that night, she imagines if the roles were reversed, and it were she and Dipper instead of Stan and Ford. Her stomach churns uneasily, and she knows it has nothing to do with the half-burned macaroni and cheese she had eaten for dinner. 

(In Grunkle Stan’s defense, it had been a long, long day. The box may say to cook the noodles for like, eight minutes, but sometimes they’re done after five. Mabel wonders if she should send them a letter, just so other people didn’t suffer the same, burnt noodle fate.)

Stan shakes his head forcefully, drawing her out of her muddled thoughts.

“Nah, he had every right to say that. I really messed everything up.” Her grunkle sniffles, uses his free hand to wipe at his nose. “I always mess it up,” he adds, almost as an afterthought. 

“That’s not true!” she practically yells, and then remembers it’s like, one in the morning. “All that stuff sounds like one big accident. Maybe if you try to tell Great Uncle Ford in the morning again how you didn’t mean it he won’t be so grumpy.”

“I don’t think that’ll work so well, kiddo,” Stan tells her, heaving out a big sigh. “Forty something years is a long time to be pisse- upset at someone. That doesn’t just go away overnight.”

Mabel thinks about the longest time Dipper has ever been mad at her. They had always bickered growing up. It was hard not to. But has her twin ever been truly, definitely, one hundred percent angry with her? So angry that he wanted nothing to do with her ever again?

She remembers this afternoon in the basement, when he had been yelling at her to shut the portal down. She thinks if she had made the wrong choice, Dipper probably would being saying the same things to her that Great Uncle Ford was saying to Grunkle Stan.

“Besides,” Grunkle Stan says, pulling her out of her dark thoughts. “Most of it wasn’t an accident. I made my choices. I just have to shut up and deal with it.”

Mabel huffs. “Still doesn’t mean you guys can’t make up!” She brainstorms for a couple of seconds, and then snaps her fingers. “Got it! I can make some Mabel juice for breakfast! Nobody can stay mad when they get to drink glitter and dinosaurs!”

Grunkle Stan barks out a laugh, and despite the fact that his face is still wet with tears, Mabel is pleased that he sounds genuinely amused. “Sweetie, that’s because they’re too busy choking on whatever it is you put in there.”

She is highly offended. Truly.

“Hey now, that only happened to Dipper like, one time, and that’s because he totally wasn’t paying attention to the pterodactyl!”

(It wasn’t her fault her brother was basically a zombie in the morning! She had read out all the ingredients, plastic dinosaurs included!)

“C’mere you big goofball,” Grunkle Stan tells her, and drags her in for a hug. Mabel feels like her heart is going to explode out of her chest, so she just grips him tighter. 

Even though her grunkle is probably four, five, times her size, it feels like she’s comforting a small child. He’s still just so sad, and Mabel knows it’ll take more than a cup of glittery juice to fix that.

But she has to try.

“Thank you for trusting me, kiddo,” Stan whispers, so quiet that Mabel isn’t sure that she actually heard him right at first. 

She grips the back of his undershirt, wishing she’d never have to let go. “Always, Grunkle Stan.”

The moment of weakness ends, and her grunkle pulls away. His eyes are drier, but his cheeks remain flushed. Still, he’s significantly calmer than he was five minutes ago. Laying one of his hands on the top of Mabel’s head, he ruffles her hair, just like he’s always done. “You should be getting to bed, been a long day.” He winces as his elbow cracks, and Mabel knows he could use some rest too.

“I guess so,” she concedes. Then, looking up at the broken ceiling, she smiles, braces and all. “But I just really wanted to check out the stars with my favorite grunkle before I went to bed.”

Stan’s grin is brighter than the moon. 

Mabel knows something big and bad was just sitting on the horizon of Gravity Falls, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Plus, the problems between Stan and Ford weren’t fixed in the slightest. In fact, they were probably going to get much, much worse, before they’d get any better. She couldn’t hide the truth from her brother forever either. And she knows they still had a lot of stuff to talk about, too.

But for right now, as she climbs onto her grunkle’s shoulders and points out made up constellations while he chuckles gruffly and names some of his own – it’s all okay.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, friends! 
> 
> August 3rd will be here before we know it!


End file.
